"GIVE ME BACK THE RUNIC ENGINE YOU THIEF!" Steiner screamed in fury as he swung his swords at Roland attempting to bisect and behead the young man… only to have both of them knocked out of his hands when Roland quickly moved into Steiner's guard, kick one sword away with tremendous force, and smash the hilt of his own sword onto the back of Steiner's knuckles, causing the sword to fall from nerveless fingers. Roland quickly kicked the dropped sword away and placed his own sword at the enraged Captain's neck. Steiner was now glaring at Roland, although the glare was lessened as Roland's strange sword was digging into his neck enough so that blood was flowing from a shallow cut.
"I didn't steal this thing. I just picked it up and it just fused to my hand. Now tell me how to get this blasted thing off!" Roland snarled, less than pleased at Steiner's lack of control.
"What's going on?!" All eyes turned to see an older man with brown hair, wearing a white lab coat that bore the emblem of Carnava on its left breast pocket walking over to them. The lab coat had a wide high collar and had multiple pockets. Looking at the emblem, Roland identified it to himself as being one that signified its wearer was a member of the Carnavan Queen's Royal Cabinet. A closer look revealed a smaller emblem underneath the Royal one. Roland guessed that the approaching man was the head of the Research and Development department. Like Steiner he wore small round glasses. His brown hair was spiked outwards at the back. His undershirt was similar to Steiner's, but lacked the green stripe and the gold trim. Instead it had pale blue trim. His pants were black and on his feet were black boots. "Steiner what happened here? The Lab looks like a warzone! And why does this young man have his sword pointed at you?"
Roland looked at the man with an expressionless face as he stepped back and sheathed his sword. There was something strange about this man, something not quite right, something off, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. "To your second question: We were attacked by a Golem which smashed through the wall. It was dealt with. To your first: I am protecting myself. To your third question: This idiot called me a thief and attacked me after his invention fused itself to the back of my hand the moment I picked it up to hand it to him." Roland scowled at Steiner. "Now tell me how to get this blasted thing off me!"
Steiner looked at Roland in shock. "Y-You don't want it?"
Roland's scowl deepened. "Of course not you fool! Why the hell would I want something that's sealing my powers?!"
"What do you mean?" The man in the lab coat asked curiously leaning forward, trying to examine Roland's left hand.
"This gizmo is sealing my magical abilities." Roland sneered at the man, who cowered back. "I'm now only able to draw on one fourth of my magical power. Now get this blasted thing off me!"
Steiner looked worried. "Well… err… I don't know how to…"
"WHAT?!" Roland roared, causing all present to jump. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU DON'T KNOW HOW TO GET THIS BLASTED THING OFF?!"
"Well… we could amputate your hand…" The man in the lab coat said hesitantly.
Steiner stared at the man. "That's not a bad idea Wendell."
"You try that and I guarantee that you won't live to regret it." Roland snapped at them. "My magic may be sealed, but I assure you that my sword skills are not."
"Well we need to talk to the Queen about the laboratory being attacked at any rate." Steiner said as he retrieved his swords and sheathed them. "You'll have to come with us so we can go over what exactly happened to get the Shadow Frost Witch's minion to go after you." He turned to Althea and grabbed her arm. "Come with me, witch!"
"Let go of me!" Althea demanded, struggling to break his grip as Steiner pulled her after him.
"Quiet!" Steiner snapped. "It's because of you that my lab was wrecked."
A sword tapped his arm. "Release her." Roland's voice was as icy as a blizzard. Steiner released Althea's arm like he had been burned.
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"Wendell!" A short and slightly large man ran up to the group as they waited in the throne room. He had a blue hat with large gemstone on and well-tailored clothes with royal emblems on them. He was rather short and his clothes were similar to Wendell's but bore a different emblem under the Royal emblem. He also wore a blue sash around his shoulders and was carrying several scrolls. "Wha-what happened to the Lab?" His voice sounded rather whiny. "Repairs will cost a fortune!"
A well cultured voice cut him off. "Councilor Breuner, control yourself!" All eyes turned to see an older gentleman striding towards them. Roland was immediately on guard. The approaching man walked like a predator stalking its meal, but the man's steps were even more carefully measure then that. Roland instantly knew that this man was most likely an extremely dangerous individual, probably very high up on the Royal Court food chain and not someone to cross lightly. He wore the robes of a royal advisor and carried himself with dignity. He wore the same outfit as Breuner, but on the left side he wore an orange half coat fastened to the other coat. He had a monocle in his left eye and wore a squared orange cap on top of his short grey hair. An equally grey, long, and pointed goatee adorned his chin. His eyes had a hard, piercing look about them. "We shall discuss the budget later. Right now the Queen wishes to speak with the Magic Association's messenger."
Just as he finished speaking, the Queen entered the Throne Room. All people present, save for Roland dropped to their knees and bowed their heads. The Queen frowned slightly as she walked over. Roland examined her with an expressionless face. He could easily see why she was considered a great beauty to her subjects and to the neighboring provinces. Her face was soft and smooth and seemed to ooze elegance and grace. Her eyes were a pair of clear emeralds and almost seemed to sparkle in the light. The Queen wore an elegant yet simple sleeveless white silk dress that would probably cost a good sized fortune. It was low cut exposing some of her rather generous cleavage, but not nearly enough was shown to be considered scandalous. She had elbow length white and silver satin gloves on. Her soft light silver hair was done up in an elaborate bun style, but left two soft bangs free to frame her face. Her crown was more akin to a large stylized silver headband with a white transparent veil covering her hair. A long white and silver cape hung from the back of her collar, thin at the neck, but wide at the bottom. She was very beautiful by any standard but her beauty didn't faze Roland at all.
"Why do you not bow?" The Queen asked Roland as she approached him, looking directly into the young man's eyes. Her steps were as graceful as a professional dancers or even a master swordsman; not a single movement was wasted. Roland would be willing to bet that Queen Sophia was no amateur with a sword.
Roland met her gaze with one of his own. "I am not one of your subjects, Queen Sophia. And what have you done that makes you worthy of being bowed to?"
Steiner's face looked both angry and scandalized at Roland's question. "How dare you commoner?! Bow to the Queen!"
Roland didn't move his gaze from the Queen. "As I asked before: What has she done that makes her worthy of being bowed to?"
Wendell answered rather heatedly. "Why she has done many things! She has decreased taxes, promoted public welfare, increased protection of her citizens-"
Roland cut him off. "She has taken care of her own subjects like any common ruler is supposed to. But what has she done in regards to the Beast Fiends or this Witch Conflict I've heard about?"
Queen Sophia gave a small smile as she sat down on her throne. "Are you a philosopher or a swordsman?"
"Your Majesty, I count myself as nothing more than a man with some skills with a blade and some magical powers." Roland answered, then his face darkened. "Or at least I did until this idiotic invention sealed almost all of my powers!" He then raised his left hand and displayed the Runic Engine. "When I 'acquired' it I had to kill a Golem to get the Shadow Frost Witch's familiar to leave, even though I can now only call on one quarter of my abilities, thanks to this blasted device. And its inventor," He gestured at Steiner, "tells me that he can't remove it without cutting off my hand."
Wendell stepped forward. "But this is not Steiner's fault! We designed the Runic Engine to be permanently bonded with a person. It's not his fault that it bonded with you!"
"Perhaps not." Roland allowed. "But as it has chosen to bond with me, and as I don't want it, as soon as I can figure out a way, I will get it off me."
Just then, Captain Gaston and Steven burst in. "Forgive me, Your Majesty! I only recently received your summons!" Gaston apologized as he and Steven approached. He looked at Roland in surprise. "Roland what are you doing here?!"
Queen Sophia looked at Gaston in shock. "You know this young man, Captain Gaston?"
Both Gaston and Steven nodded as Gaston answered. "Yes, Your Majesty. We met earlier today and I invited him to stay for the festival. Sir Steven allowed Rasche and Rina to be his guides after Roland easily defeated him in single combat."
As everyone present, aside from Althea, looked at Roland with mixtures of shock and respect, Queen Sophia exclaimed. "Sir Steven is one of the greatest swordsmen in Carnava! Did you let him win Sir Steven?"
Steven shook his head. "No Your Majesty. I fought Roland with everything I had, but he defeated me like I was an amateur swinging a stick." He bowed to Roland. "Roland is perhaps the greatest swordsman I've ever met aside from Master Mattias."
"Hey are you just going to ignore me?!" Althea asked in indignantly.
"And you are who?" Queen Sophia asked, turning to the young Witch-in-training.
"My name's Althea, Your Majesty. Miss Dia sent me to give you this message." Althea held out a scroll.
"I'll take that." Steiner snapped, grabbing the scroll. "For all we know it could be cursed."
Althea rolled her eyes. "If it were cursed, I'd most definitely give it to you and not the Queen. I'm sure you would be no great loss." Many people had difficulty concealing their snickers, Roland noticed that Queen Sophia had a mirthful expression on her face and her eyes seemed to sparkle even more as she giggled into her hand. Gaston on the other hand was roaring with undisguised laughter.
Steiner's face grew red with both anger and embarrassment. "Why you little-"
"Control yourself, Captain Steiner." The Queen said, by now all mirth was gone from her face. "Since it is quite clear to me that the scroll is not cursed, please hand it over." Steiner bowed and muttered an apology as he handed her the scroll. The Queen studied it for a minute or so. "So the Magic Association is formally requesting our aid."
"What does the Brilliant Witch want?" The advisor asked.
"She requests that we help her track down the Tide Witch." The Queen frowned. "Apparently the Tide Witch has stolen something from the Magic Association and gone into hiding."
"Why should we help the Witches?" Breuner demanded. "It won't help our budget and what have they done for us?"
"Hey without magic, you wouldn't have any of the technologies that you rely on to live comfortably!" Althea exclaimed.
"She is right." Queen Sophia acknowledged. "And the Brilliant Witch has offered, in return for our aid in this, to aid us against the Beast Fiends."
"But we have no one to spare!" Breuner protested. "Even if we wanted to, we just can't send anybody."
"I think I have an idea." The Advisor said with a thoughtful look.
"Please tell us what your idea is Advisor Grimm." The Queen invited with a gesture.
"Why not hire this man?" Grimm asked, gesturing to Roland. "He is a master swordsman if he can defeat Sir Steven with ease and he did drive off one of the Shadow Frost Witch's minions. And he killed a Golem in the process, a feat that usually takes at least ten soldiers to accomplish. And he appears to have skills with magic. I see no reason not to hire him and send him to be our negotiator to the Rev Magic Association."
The Queen nodded thoughtfully. "Your idea has merit." She turned to Roland. "What say you Roland? Will you work for me as a Rune Knight?"
Roland looked thoughtful for a few moments before shrugging, "Why not? But what's the pay?"
The Queen laughed. "Your pay will be equal to that of Captain Gaston."
"B-But the budget!" Breuner stuttered in protest.
"Breuner please control yourself. We have more than enough to pay this extraordinary person a Captain's pay." The Queen said gently, but forcefully enough to effectively silence any arguments from her Financial Councilor.
Roland looked at Breuner with a critical eye before turning back to Queen Sophia. "You are wise to surround yourself with honest and trustworthy councilors and advisors, Your Majesty."
The Queen looked slightly confused. "Thank you for your kind words Rune Knight Roland. But could you please clarify your statement."
Roland gestured at Breuner and Grimm. "These two are perhaps the most honest people I've ever met who hold high positions in a royal court. Their actions and words tell me that they have not a shred of corruption in them."
"Thank you for your kind words Rune Knight." Advisor Grimm bowed while Breuner seemed to puff up a little at the praise.
"Please call me Roland. I'm not really one for formality."
Steiner then spoke up, venom was dripping from his tone. "But we cannot send this Rune Knight alone to the Magic Association. I will go with him and monitor-"
"No." Breuner interrupted him with an emphatic shake of his head. "The budget won't allow another with a Captain's pay to leave. And you have to stay here and help with the repairs to your laboratory."
Steiner scowled. "But he-"
Gaston interrupted his fellow Captain forcefully. "Enough, Steiner. The Runic Engine chose Roland, not you. Be a man and face facts."
Steiner's scowl deepened, obviously not liking the chastisement he was receiving from a fellow Captain. "But we cannot let someone who we know nothing about handle delicate negotiations with the Witches! And besides, we need to monitor how the Runic Engine functions. We need to send someone to accompany him."
"Then I would suggest these two." Roland indicated Rasche and Rina, "I've seen their skills and I believe they are competent fighters. Their skills would likely prove more useful to me than they would be here. And their level of control is much better than some people I've met in Carnava." Roland sent a glare at Steiner, the emphasis on the word 'some' was missed by no one.
"Hmmm." Queen Sophia considered the request with a contemplative expression, stroking her chin as she did so before nodding. "Very well. Rasche and Rina shall accompany you."
Roland nodded. "We shall leave first thing tomorrow morning, Your Majesty."
"Thank you. As you are the only person who has defeated Sir Steven in single combat, perhaps you would consider training the two of them?" The Queen inquired. Rasche and Rina glanced at each other before looking at Roland, curious as to what his response would be.
Roland smirked. "I see that you are well aware of how pitiful your Knights are as fighters Your Majesty."
The Queen nodded with a sad sigh. "Unfortunately you are all too correct. Our soldiers are not nearly as strong as they should be."
Roland let loose a sigh of his own as he shook his head. "I'm no teacher." Rasche and Rina looked disheartened. "But…" The two looked back up. "If Rasche and Rina pick up a few things while traveling with me, well now I can't really help that now can I?" He smirked again as laughter rang throughout the Throne Room.